


Ply Your Heart

by liginamite



Series: With Arms Unbound: Once Upon A Bingo Challenge [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Red Cricket - Freeform, Spoilers, Subconscious Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liginamite/pseuds/liginamite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archie is troubled by nightmares of his time on Hook's ship and there isn't very much that can help him. Ruby tries anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ply Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my bingo card under "Jiminy/Archie - dreams." I thought about making it happy but haha, nope, apparently not. Maybe one day I'll write happy Red Cricket.

"You are resilient." With a curt inspection of his titular appendage, Hook crouches in front of the doctor and flashes him a brilliant smile brimming with dark promise. He taps the wood of the bench. "But then, bugs _do_ have thick skins." 

Archie eyes him wearily, acutely aware of the scratchy rope leaving chafed, angry red scratches against his skin. He's making a valiant attempt to keep his shaking in check--this isn't the first time Hook has paid him a visit, and the long (and thankfully shallow) line that runs down the outside of his forearm is testament to Hook's interrogation methods. 

_The next one will be deeper if you don't tell me what I want to know._

He runs the tip of his hook along Archie's cheek, the skin beneath the sharp point dimpling with the slightest hint of pressure, and Archie forces down the shudders threatening at the base of his spine. There's a prick, fast with a single bright point of pain and a trickle of blood slides down the slope of his cheek, coming to a trembling stop at his chin. Archie closes his eyes and tries to breathe. 

"Now, little cricket." The point digs a little deeper, threatening to catch against skin and pull and Archie exhales sharply through both nostrils, trying to stay calm. "What is it exactly that Rumplestiltskin holds deepest in that shriveled black thing he calls a heart?" 

"I don't know," Archie replies carefully, each word articulated hard and firm. "He only ever came to see me once, and it was over a misconception. Nothing came out of it, on either end."

The hook digs deeper and Archie hisses before he can stop himself. It crawls slowly against the soft skin of his cheek, carving a delicate line over his cheek bone. More blood leaks steadily to join the droplet gathering on his chin and finally it drops, a splash of red against the darkened wood of the floor. He's frightened, more frightened than he has ever been in all his long life, and his body feels frozen. Hook removes the weapon and inspects the reddened tip curiously, touching the sticky blood there with a gloved finger. 

"You see, I don't feel very inclined to believe you," he explains, tone light and casual and Archie swallows. "Dr. Hopper, I am going to ask you once more and only once." He leans in close, eyes digging into blue. "What does Rumplestiltskin hold dear?"

"I don't _know_!" The last dregs of composure slipping away, Archie struggles to get his point across, panic bubbling up and spilling out as Hook tuts his disapproval. "He's never told me anything!"

"Then you're of no further use to me," Hook states lightly, and in one sharp movement swings his arm and buries the curve of his hook into the doctor's neck. 

The force of it sends Archie bolting upright with a choked gasp, sheets sticking to his sweaty skin and tangling around his shins with his frantic kicking. He sucks huge lungfuls of air in, hands scrabbling at the unmarked skin of his neck with no small amount of desperation, and as his fingers brush across smooth skin he forces himself to sigh with relief. Nothing. 

"Archie?"

His head snaps to the door, nails nearly scratching at his neck in shock and a moment later Ruby is hurrying over, glass of water abandoned on the bedside table as she perches on the edge of the mattress. Her hands hover just beyond a comforting touch, expression one of concern and fright. "Archie, are you alright? What happened?"

Finally moving his hands from his neck to his hair, Archie struggles to come up with a worthwhile explanation without needing to revisit the dark memory of the nightmare. He pushes sweaty clumps of hair back and swallows. 

"A bad dream, Ruby. I'm fine."

"Oh, like hell you are." Ruby reaches out and with careful, tender motions she straightens the collar of Archie's shirt, her fingers lingering only for a moment before she slides them down the length of his arms and covers his hands with her own. "Seriously, Arch, just because I'm relieved you're okay doesn't mean you're getting off the hook that easily."

He grimaces before he can help himself, making a conscious effort to keep his hands from clenching into fists with stress. Truly though, he owes Ruby more than just an explanation. He had expressed a rather strong aversion to returning to his apartment quite yet, for reasons he wasn't sure he could explain. He just knew he didn't want to be there, and Ruby had offered without pause a free room at the inn for the night. And here he is now, reduced to a shivering, sweaty mess, refusing the comfort of a person who only wants to help him. It's that thought that makes him sigh and slap a weak smile on, one that Ruby meets with a disbelieving eye, her brow raised. 

_You owe her the truth,_ a voice in the back of his head prods, and he nearly sighs. 

"I was back on the ship," Archie explains carefully and Ruby's thumbs rub absent circles against his as she listens. It's incredibly comforting, and his breath eases up a tiny bit. "That's all, I promise. Just bad dreams."

"Bad dreams can be pretty, well." Ruby chuckles without mirth. "Pretty bad." Just then she seems to realize that her hands still cover his and with a start she pulls away, reaching instead for the glass of water. She offers it and Archie takes it, sipping slowly and reveling in the cool feeling of it down his throat. The musty brig and the salt in the air from the sea had not done a kindness to any part of him. Ruby watches silently and they sit there, words hanging, and finally Ruby slaps her legs and stands with a "well! I guess I'll head back to my room, then." She pats Archie's shoulder, shaking him fondly. "I'm here if you need me, promise. All you have to do is come get me."

_Smile._

Archie does so, glancing up at her, but it feels forced even to himself. "Thank you, Ruby."

She shakes him once more before taking the now empty glass and leaving him to his own thoughts. Sleep seems like a less than desirable prospect at the moment. The back of his sleep shirt is still stuck to his skin with sweat and he runs a hand down his face, stopping at his mouth and huffing a breath out across his knuckles. The shaking has subsided for now, but sleep is sure to return it full force. He flops back against the pillow, staring at the fuzzy view of the ceiling, glasses still neatly folded on the bedside table. He closes his eyes and sighs. 

"Tell me, Dr. Hopper, perhaps if you can't tell me what it is Rumplestiltskin holds dear," Hook smiles darkly, "what about you? Hmm?" Archie holds his breath, fear rippling in the pit of his stomach. "Surely there's someone in that town you would call close?"

Marco. Ruby. Henry. Names swirl in his thoughts but Archie keeps his mouth shut, lips thin and eyes averted. A touch of sharp iron tilts his gaze back towards his captor and Hook searches Archie's expression.

"A woman, perhaps." He speaks slowly, watching as Archie's face falls with slowly dawning horror. He gets close, barely an inch from Archie's nose. "You forget, bug, that with what we have your secrets aren't yours anymore." His voice is dark. "Would you hold that crocodile's heart over your own?" He turns the hook as his eyes bore into Archie's. "The woman, then. There will be more; of course that would be up to you."

"I don't know anything!" Again, he pleads and warmth spills down his cheek again, the wound he had forgotten opened again with his protest. "I've told you, please! _Please!_ "

Hook grabs him suddenly, the curve of his index finger and thumb pressed against his chin, and he shoves Archie's head back against the hard wall with little mercy. Pain splinters off from the impact point and for a moment he sees stars. Hook leans in and hisses in his ear, stubble scratching the tender wound still leaking blood onto Archie's collar. 

"And I told you. You aren't leaving until I get what I want."

"Please," he repeats, desperate now. If he knows about Ruby, who else could he hurt? "I can't give you what you want, I don't. I don't know what it is you want."

Hook shoves his head back against the wall and grins down at him, his silhouette swimming against the tears prickling in Archie's eyes from the points of pain blooming across the back of his skull. 

"Then you'll rot here," he explains casually, and Archie's neck burns suddenly, warmth seeping down his shirt and he chokes around a sudden mouthful of blood. Hook examines the scene before him before abruptly turning to haul himself out of the brig. 

"The woman, then," he repeats, and Archie panics. 

" _NO!_ "

" _Archie!_ " 

Arms wrench him back out of his dream and he chokes on his next inhale, heaving like he's near drowned. Ruby stares down at him with clear worry etched into her expression, and with little consideration he shoves her away, struggling to pull the covers off. He needs to get away, quickly, as fast as he can before she gets hurt, but she grabs his shoulder and practically wrestles him back down despite his frantic attempts. 

"Archie, you're not okay. You need to go to the hospital," she tells him, and her voice is stern if not frightened. Archie tries to gather his thoughts, tries to find composure but there's a vast emptiness where it all should be, gone in the wake of the nightmare. He does find it in himself to shake his head, and a trickle of sweat streaks down the side of his face. Ruby is staring at him with such a great amount of worry that he almost feels ashamed, but instead he kicks the last of the sheets away, grabbing his glasses with trembling fingers and sliding them onto his nose. He tries gathering his things, tucked neatly in an overnight bag, but his hands are shaking too hard for him to get a proper grip. 

"I'm. I need, I need to go." He repeats it again, but Ruby gets to her feet and steps in front of him, her hands cupping his face gently, stopping him in his tracks. Panic lurches in his stomach but she stares at him with a hardness he's never seen in her eyes before.

_She only wants to help._

"Talk to me, Arch." Her tone is not begging, not quite, but there is quality to her voice that suggests more than casual worry. "I got you back but it doesn't feel like you're really here with me. You're not really here, you're somewhere else." She searches his eyes. "What happened to talking it out, to voicing problems? Remember?"

"Circumstances, they change," he manages, trying to plead with his eyes, trying to get her to understand. Her eyes flick between his, dark and troubled, and her grip turns a little firmer. She drags his head down, pressing their foreheads together, noses nearly touching. He's reminded briefly of a time near forgotten, a year spent learning the taste of words that couldn't be spoken. It feels fuzzy, a dream perhaps, but a good one. One in which magic, in which Jiminy and Red and wars and suffering were nothing but forgotten imagination. Before things abruptly turned around, and everything was back to coffee orders and patting a dog in passing. 

"Please," she murmurs then, and again. "Please, Archie. Let me help you."

_Let her help you._

Tension drains slowly, but his hands still shake and his bag thunks to the floor as he brings them up to cover hers, still curled against his cheeks. Archie makes a last ditch attempt to gently push her away but her head tilts towards his, their lips brushing, barely making contact. 

Something sparks and he jerks away, and that little voice is screaming with clear warning. _Leave. Go now. Don't let this happen._ Ruby stares at him as he reaches down and grabs his bag, shoulders tense and shaking and when he looks back up, her expression is one of hurt and anger both. 

"Don't," she tries, and his stomach turns. He doesn't want to leave, but as long as he's there, she's in danger. And while he has no doubt Ruby can take care of herself, the torment of anything that befalls her being his fault is... it's too much, and he shakes his head. 

"I'm sorry," he mutters, and it's the first thing he's said that he actually means. "I can't stay here. I. I'm sorry." He feels Ruby's eyes on him as he hurries out the door, and there's the audible squeak and crunch of a mattress being collapsed upon, and in his mind's eye he can see Ruby running her hands through her hair. 

His stomach rolls again, and he heads towards one place, at least, where he hopes he can be kept awake, if not by natural means, then by magic.

"Clever," Hook mutters in appreciation as they watch him struggle down the empty sidewalk, making his way towards Regina's house. Cora watches the doctor's movements with a smirk curling the corners of her mouth. "Having something to keep him in line will certainly prevent any nasty heroics."

"Well, of course," she replies calmly, slipping the pulsing, glowing heart back into her handbag. "We can't let him sacrifice himself for the good of the town, that could ruin everything." She frowns, then, just a slight downward turn of lips. "We'll have to keep him away from that girl," she adds as she begins to walk towards the opposite edge of the building, and Hook trails behind her, mild confusion settling across his face. 

"Why's that?"

Cora turns to look at him and raises her eyebrows slightly, as if to mock him with so simple an answer. "True Love's Kiss," she replies evenly. "Just because _they_ don't realize it doesn't mean it's not there. We had a very near miss, and I don't very much feel like getting a new fly on the wall."

He ah's his understanding as she continues her walk back towards the dock, and he follows, unable to hold in one last quip. 

"Or cricket."


End file.
